Bret Bielema didn’t do his part in helping Illinois land 5-star Brady Pettigrew during official visit

After the loss to Purdue on the football field, Illinois fans may be counting down the days until basketball season, and luckily, Brad Underwood’s squad will be in action soon. In the meantime, while the team prepares for the season, Underwood has been busy with official visits, the latest one from five-star 2028 prospect Brady Pettigrew.

Pettigrew was in Champaign over the weekend, seeing everything the Illini had to offer from the basketball court to the football field. Well, it seems like Underwood and Co. delivered on their end, but Bret Bielema and his squad utterly failed to uphold their end of it all with a 24-17 loss to Purdue.

Yes, Pettigrew isn’t looking to play football for Illinois, but when he is on the field at the game, there is hope that the team can still put on an impressive performance. Instead, Illinois became Leslie Odom’s first Big Ten win as the head coach at Purdue, and he was hired back in 2024.

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Luckily, Brady Pettigrew isn’t planning on playing football at Illinois

While the football program didn’t put on the performance we would have liked to see on homecoming weekend with a big recruit like Pettigrew on campus, luckily, he wants to play basketball and not football.

When it comes to the basketball program, Underwood and Co. have the resume to help land the five-star recruit. Illinois does have the leg up on other schools, with Pettigrew being a native of the state, so he could choose to stay close to home and choose to play for the Illini.

Underwood isn’t the only one after Pettigrew commitment, though, even this early in his recruitment. Illinois is competing with other schools for Pettigrew, including a few blue-bloods like UNC, Kentucky, Duke (even though they have yet to offer), Indiana, and Michigan. Ohio State and Arkansas are also in the mix, making Pettigrew a hot commodity for the 2028 class.

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There were a few rumors that the five-star Illinois native could choose to reclassify to 2027, but nothing has been done on…

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Publish date : 2026-10-05 14:51:00

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